For much of the afternoon, Hamilton Coleman had to hold on.
The 17-year-old from Augusta, Georgia, held a 5-up lead after 12 holes Saturday during the championship match of the 2025 U.S. Junior Amateur. But Minh Nguyen, a soon-to-be freshman at Oregon State, scratched and clawed his way back into the match, and he stood on the 35th hole, a par-3 at Trinity Forest in Dallas, with a chance to tie the match.
Coleman didn’t give him that chance, though. The Georgia commit buried a birdie putt on the 35th hole to win the 77th U.S. Junior, 2 and 1, staving off a furious comeback attempt from Nguyen. But as the players marched down the back nine, Nguyen couldn’t tie the match, and Coleman birdied the par-3 17th for the second time in the championship match to win the trophy.
“Getting off to that hot start, I knew I couldn’t ease my way into winning,” Coleman told NBC Sports’ Emilia Doran. “I knew I would have to keep hitting quality shots. It got a little tight there, but I never lost faith. I told my caddie I was nervous but I was never scared, so I’m proud of the way I handled that.”
Both players receive exemptions into the U.S. Amateur at Olympic Club in San Francisco next month. Coleman also receives a spot in the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
To get into the championship match, Coleman had to go through a gauntlet of opponents, starting with defending runner-up Tyler Watts in the Round of 16. Then he topped Sohan Patel on Friday morning in the quarterfinals before beating Luke Colton, the second-highest ranked player in the field, in the semis.
Then came the championship match, when Coleman was stellar in the first 12 holes and then held on for the next 22, but the par-3 17th is one hole he won’t forget anytime soon.
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